In one of the most abiding events of town, every Saturday, a group of youngsters assembles in a small hall of the YMCA Secunderabad and conducts oratorical competitions and events among themselves, from 6:30pm to 9pm. Group discussions, prose-reading sessions, debates and JAM sessions also find their way into the agenda from time to time. This is YOCS (Young Orators' Club of Secunderabad).

The meetings are divided into three sessions:

The Minor SessionA member of the club presents his point of view and argues about a topic chosen/prepared by him, for 15 minutes. This speech is evaluated by an evaluator, with language, matter and style being the parameters of evaluation.

The Major SessionHere the evaluator presents a topic to the house that needs to be debated on. Each speaker gets 2 minutes to speak on the topic. The evaluator may even choose to conduct a group discussion as an alternative as well.

The Book Review SessionEach week a member reviews a book that he/she had read. The book reviews are evaluated as well.

Membership to YOCS is free, but not easy. Aspiring members can walk into the session any Saturday, and keep participating in the debates as a guest for four weeks. The members will review his performance at the end of the day, and if satisfied with his presentation skills, grant him full membership. The confirmation takes about 8 weeks. In the meantime, he can keep participating as a guest.

Members have had varied reasons for aspiring to the YOCs membership. For some, it may be the desire to interact with others at a certain level of intellectual accomplishment; some may hope to develop and polish their communication skills in advance of their appearance in competitive examinations and interviews (CAT!), and some wind up at YOCs just to spend an evening a week with friends.

YOCS started its journey in 1969, and as an institution it has grow in strength with each generation. YOCS entered the Limca Book of Records in 2001 with Orathron - a marathon oratory event for seven days. In collaboration with The Times Of India, it has conducted workshops on personality development at various colleges and schools. Its members have expectedly won many prizes in culture festivals held across the country. It has also had the privilege of representing itself as an institute in various inter-college festivals.

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